The Revival Of Christianity During The Late Roman Empire

Christianity began its succession into the most dominant worldwide religion after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days build another made without hands.” Upon Jesus’ death and resurrection, he completed this task setting forth the development of Christianity. Since Jesus left no formal authoritative power, organization, or agreed upon scriptures, a wide variety of sects gained popularity in the development of Christianity. Most of these sects were later deemed as heretic, one of the most notable being Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a dualist religion believing the material world evil and the invisible spirit realm good. This belief obligated Gnosticism to follow Docetic interpretations. Docetism is the belief that Jesus was never truly man but rather a divine from the spirit world. All forms of Christianity, however, believe Jesus is son of God sent as humanity’s savior from damnation. Docetism, along with other aspects of Gnosticism, drove other Christians condemn Gnosticism as heresy. Gnosticism, however, is more comparable to Canonical Christians than realized. Specifically, the distinction between Docetism and strict Canonical belief is not only insignificant but also justifiable due to Canonical contradictions surrounding Jesus’ existence.

In the Roman Civilization where the prevalent worship of Roman gods were impersonal and did not provide a moral base or a message of hope, in the fourth century Christianity was formed, born as a movement within Judaism. Christianity emphasized the personal relationship between God and people, slowly spread through the Roman Empire until ultimately dominating the western culture. Three of the several factors that aided to the growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire were: the central beliefs and value of Christianity, prominent figures, and Christianity appeal to women. Christianity offered hope to many, for it was the time of grace and freedom, the time to rebuild the future and

Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also known as the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Resurrection (Orthodox Christians). Originally identified as being outside the settlement of Calvary, it is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel and is considered one of the holiest sites in the world, as well as being a central destination for Christian pilgrims. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was originally built by the Roman Emperor Constantine (272-337) in 330 CE upon the site of a Roman temple. It has since been controlled by Arab rulers, reclaimed by Christian crusaders, repeatedly ruined by fires and conquests, and long been subject to regional religious and political tensions. The Holy Sepulchre is a central Church in

Henry, M. (2003). I am the truth: toward a philosophy of Christianity. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.

Religion played a key role in the daily life and social system of Ancient Rome. Religion included the worship of many gods and more gods were often adopted from conquered areas. Because most religions were polytheist at the time, the Romans rarely disallowed a cult from a conquered region to continue. A few cults ran into controversy and opposition from citizens or government, such as the cult of Deus Sol Invictus, and that of Isis. Romans were also not keen on monotheistic religion which explains their separation from the Jews. But above all other religions, the Romans disagreed with, persecuted and were threatened most by Christianity.  The introduction of Christianity to the Roman Empire

Factors Which Led to the Spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire Christianity was not born in a vacumn. There were many social, geographical, historical and religious issues prevailing at the time of Christ and all of which were favorable to the spread of Christianity. Geograpicly, Christianity came into being in the Meditation world, the largest of the various centers of civilization at that time. Israel stands almost central to the five continents, dividing the east and west.

Then and now religions shared common dimensions that provide society with a doctrine, narrative, ethics, ritual, experience and a social institution. These six dimensions that Ninian Smart derived spell out the framework for comparative study of religions1. The six dimensions hold true when comparing the daily routine Roman religious thought to modern Christianity. Interwoven into the core of both cultures is a strong unifying spirit that built a strong communal bond for its people.

Christians went from being persecuted to dominating Rome rather quickly. In a world where separation between church and state does not exist, a Christian becoming the sole emperor of Rome symbolized a huge turning point in history. The power switched and the Pagans in turn became persecuted. Christians rose up and took control of all aspects of Roman society. The Pagan past was destroyed, banned, or forgotten about. Those Christians that did not agree with how things were being run either left the empire and became monks or formed their own sect. All of Rome changed.

The relationship between Christians and the Roman Empire is complicated to say the least. Before the summation of the primary sources begin there must be a little background information provided. Rome was in power over a big portion of the Mediterranean region. A good portion of Christians lived under Rome’s rule. Rome was a very tolerant state when it came to religious flexibility. As long as you recognized the Roman God’s then they were tolerant with any other practices you decided to have. The Christians would not recognize the Roman God’s and that caused great friction. There are many primary sources historians have found on the relationship between the Christians and the Romans. The majority of the sources being used in this summation are from the Documents of the Christian Church the fourth edition. Also three primary sources from the times of Constantine, the emperor of Rome in the fourth century. The Romans start as thinking of the Christians as criminals, to being tolerant with them, to eventually they embrace the Christian faith.

In the early stages of the Roman Empire, Christianity had been banned. Roman religion had rejected it from being any form of religion. The Romans tolerated Christians when they were still a small group of people. But as the faith began to grow among the people, they were no longer tolerated and were viewed as a threat to the Romans. Christians were intermittently persecuted during the first two centuries of the Roman Empire because Christian people at the time belonged to the lower class of society. Therefore, they had no political power or aid.

In the Roman Civilization where the prevalent worship of roman gods were impersonal and did not provide a moral base or a message of hope, in the fourth century Christianity was formed, born as a movement within Judaism Christianity emphasized the personal relationship between God and people slowly spread through the Roman Empire until ultimately dominating the western culture. Three of the several factors that aided to the growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire were; the central beliefs and value of Christianity, prominent figures, and Christianity appeal to women.

Throughout history, Christianity always had a reputation, or a “name” following it. Different perspectives approached the reputation that was attached to Christianity in different manners. Justin Martyr and Porphyry had objectives when defining whether this “name” really defined Christianity and the past. They wondered whether the past really represented Christianity. Additionally they honed in on the question of was the past that people represented as Christianity really the roots of Christianity? All around Porphyry and Justin was perceptions of what Christianity rooted from and stood for.

The early church was hated by the society and government of the Roman Empire for various reasons, such as the refusal of Christians to sacrifice to the gods. The Empire went through many phases of demanding that the Christians sacrifice which meant denying their faith or be killed. The earliest attacks claimed the lives of many of the apostles.This text is the story, from around 160 AD, of the martyrdom of Polycarp, the Bishop of the church in Smyrna, a city in Asia Minor (modern Izmir in Turkey) devoted to Roman worship. The account is in the form of a letter from eye-witnesses to other churches in the area. It is the earliest chronicle of a martyrdom outside the New Testament.Polycarp was an old man, at least 86, and probably the last surviving person to have known an apostle, having been a disciple of St. John. This was one reason he was greatly revered as a teacher and church leader. One interesting feature of the letter is that the writer is very conscious of how Polycarp’s death followed the pattern of Christ’s. As you read it, look for parallels between this story and the Easter story in the gospels. We are writing to you, brothers, with an account of the martyrs, especially the blessed Polycarp, whose death brought to the persecution to a close. Almost all the events that led up to it reveal it to be another martyrdom in the divine pattern that we see in the Gospel. For he waited for his betrayal, just like the Lord did, so that we might follow him, in looking out

With such support from the state and the Emperor, the church was given a massive financial support, which was invested in the building of the Basilicas. They were used to perform rituals such as worship, baptism, prayers, scripture reading, preaching and recognition of the dead and the after life. The liturgy of the early churches was very plain. They were build on a rectangular classical floor plan. The Basilica floor plan was simple; consisting of a narthex (the outside building short end), apse, transept, and aisle such formation gives the idea of building resembling to the cross. The early Christians were inspiration to represent such building to the cross. Once more this is part of the spiritual journey of Christianity. The other model was the central plan which would consist of a dome in the middle of the church. Were all the activities would take place. Like the worship and the baptismal ritual. This center plan was more common in the Eastern-Orthodox churches. This shows the heritage of Roman Christian art from the early ancestors such as the Greeks and the Middle East. A great example is the San Vitale in Ravenna which was an important Byzantine outpost in Italy. San Vitale was constructed under the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 547. This church has a domed central core which

However, because of the many parallels in structure, I argue that the apse ended plan of the circus basilicas were based or influenced by the circuses. It was a marketing ploy used by the early Christians to convert the pagans, as well as to make this new religion easier to accept and relate to. I also argue that the circus basilicas were based on the circuses as a way to remember the athletes of Christianity—the martyrs that died in the circus for their cause; whose graves tended to be close to these basilicas, of not named after